Queen’s Nursing Institute Honours Nursing Professionals at 2021 Awards Ceremony  

The Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) held its annual Awards Ceremony on 13th December. The event, held online, was the largest awards ceremony ever held by the QNI.

The programme included presentation of the Gold Badge of the Institute, its highest honour, Fellowship of the Institute, the Outstanding Service Award, three academic prizes for students of specialist practice, leaders of community innovation programmes, Executive Leaders and Queen’s Nurses. The first ever International Community Nurse of the Year Award was also presented.

The ceremony was opened by The QNI’s Chair of Council, Professor John Unsworth, who welcomed the award winners and guests to the ceremony. He thanked the QNI’s supporters including the National Garden Scheme which recently announced its annual donation totalling £395,000 to the QNI, supporting the Queen’s Nurse programme, the Executive Leaders programme, and the NGS Elsie Wagg (Innovation) Scholarship.

Professor Unsworth introduced an animated film made earlier this year by the QNI and Hallam Medical – ‘Today’s Nurses in the Community’ to celebrate the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife. 

George Plumptre, Chief Executive of the National Garden Scheme, welcomed the new Queen’s Nurses and thanked all those who have received recognition in this evening’s Awards Ceremony for their contributions to nursing and to healthcare.

Gold Badge of The Queen’s Nursing Institute 

Dr Crystal Oldman CBE presented the Gold Badge.

The Gold Badge is the Institute’s highest honour and has only been presented 16 times in the organisation’s 134-year history. It is presented this year to Rosalynde Lowe CBE, who joined the QNI as a member of Council in 2003, served as Chair of Council until 2012 and is currently a member of Council and a QNI Fellow. A biography is given in the official Order of Service above.

Fellowship 

Dr Crystal Oldman CBE welcomed the new Fellows of the QNI:

• Hilary Garratt CBE
• Professor Julie Green
• Margrieta Langins
• Dr Joan Myers OBE
• Louise Patten
• Sue Tranka

Dr Oldman thanked all the new Fellows for their individual and unique contributions to the nursing profession over many years. A short biography of the new Fellows is given in the official Order of Service above.

Dr Crystal Oldman CBE, the QNI’s Chief Executive presented the following Awards.

The Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Award for Outstanding Service 

The Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Awards for Outstanding Service was presented to:

• Hannah Bishop
• Jane Cook
• Dr Michael Tatterton
• Susan Thompson

Biographies are given in the official Order of Service above.

The International Community Nurse of the Year Award 2021 

Supported by NHS England and NHS Improvement

The award is presented jointly to:

Marc Rodriguera and Dennis Singson

Academic Prizes  

The QNI currently awards three academic prizes to students of specialist practice at all universities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that offer the relevant courses:

• The Ellen Mary Memorial Prize for General Practice Nursing SPQ students
• The Dora Roylance Memorial Prize for Health Visitor SCPHN students
• The Philip Goodeve-Docker Memorial Prize for District Nursing SPQ students.

Gill Boast QN spoke about the life of her mother, Ellen Mary, and the family’s decision to create a memorial prize for General Practice Nurses in her name. She said that the GPN Specialist Practice course can be ‘transformational’ for GPNs and congratulated all of the Award winners.

Mr Nigel Goodeve-Docker spoke about the naming of the District Nursing Specialist Practice course prize in memory of his son, Philip. Philip gave his life to save that of his friends during their endeavour to cross the Greenland Ice Sheet to raise funds for the QNI in 2013. Mr Goodeve-Docker congratulated the prize winners on their achievement and paid testament to them as they embark on their careers as specialist practitioners in District Nursing.

A full list of the academic prize winners is given in the official Order of Service above.

 Executive Nurse Leaders  

The Executive Nurse Leadership programme is designed for nurses in a strategic leadership position within their organisations. This highly selective programme brings together a cohort of leaders to develop key skills including systems leadership, strategic thinking and leading transformational change. The QNI is extremely grateful to the National Garden Scheme for the funding of this programme. The 2021 Leaders are:

• Angela Anderson
• Kerry Bareham
• Joanne Bowen
• Lesley Channer
• Audrey Devere-Adamah
• Jo Hunter
• Jane Pemberton
• Jackie Rooney
• Jacqui Scrace
• Sheila Sorby
• Kathryn Woods
• Stephanie Zakrzewski.

Innovation Awards

The QNI’s Innovation Programme completed this year focused on nurse-led health innovations for people with learning disabilities. The programme is generously funded by The Burdett Trust for Nursing. When introducing the Awards, Dr Oldman noted that the projects have already ‘improved the lives of hundreds of individuals.’ The individual projects are:

• Project: Better Access to Health Care – Linda Ashworth, Lynn Sharples
• Project: Healthy Eating & Weight Management for Children – Helen Ashwell, Belinda Zabel
• Project: How to Manage Unsafe Swallow – Gerard Wainwright
• Project: Improving Health Outcomes for Children – Tracey Hartley-Smith
• Project: Reducing Anxiety Improving Appointments – Maggie Bean
• Project: Safety Pack for Parents with a Learning Disability – Jill Brewer, Louise Sowerby
• Project: Sleep Workshops: Better Sleep – Avril Bembridge, Suzie Pattemore

Queen’s Nurses  

Dr Crystal Oldman CBE, QNI Chief Executive extended a formal welcome to the new Queen’s Nurses (QNs). Queen’s Nurses have at least five years’ experience of working in community settings and undergo a rigorous selection process in order to receive this prestigious title, which was reintroduced by the charity in 2007.

Dr Oldman traced the history of the Queen’s Nurse title from its beginnings in the era of Florence Nightingale and William Rathbone, who provided inspiration and leadership in the foundation of the QNI in 1887. As such she noted that the title has “a history and a value – the original Queen’s Nurses were the best trained nurses of their day” and the title carries with it “honour and dignity.”

The Queen’s Nurse programme is generously funded through the support of the National Garden Scheme and there are now almost 1700 Queen’s Nurses working in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who contribute to the national health agenda.

The full list of new Queen’s Nurses is given on the official Order of Service above.

A pre-recorded message of thanks by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales was played before the Awards Ceremony was brought to an official close by Professor Unsworth.